The call from the light
by Archesa
Summary: Their fight in the snow takes an unexpected turn as the connection between them opens far more than both had expected. Unable to process with what she discovered, Rey carries on her path to the light, while Kylo Ren dives deeper in the darkness. But there's a bond between them. A call from the light, and the attraction of darkness.
1. The way to the Force

The base's shields had failed, the skies had turned black and the star had died. The thunderous crack of lightsabers drowned the earthshattering sound of the Starkiller cleaving apart. Sparks of light formed where the blades met, the searing heat of the lasers crossed between them filling the ice cold air and melting snowflakes into a bitting drizzle. The ground trembled and the soil quaked; trees creaked and cracked in the red and blue light, rocks falling into the void, swallowed by the abyss as a wide chasm tore the Starkiller apart. Rey blinked the droplets off her lashes and risked a glance behind her, the thrill of the fight and fire in her veins washed by an icy wave of realization as he pushed her ever closer to the edge. The blades sizzled against each other, a golden arc crackling between them. A pained yelp of frustration escaped her lips when the flaring hilt of his weapon brushed against her, burning the clothe just shy of breaking the skin, and his blade hovering dangerously close to her face.

"You need a teacher."

Her eyes snapped back at him, his dark eyes gleaming eerily in the game of blue and red lights cast by their fight. There was desperation in his voice.

"I could show you the way of the Force."

The word stirred something within her. "The Force..."

Closing her eyes and her mind, she searched deep in her, craving for a peace, a serenity in which she hoped she could find strength.

 _'I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing...'_

The world around her vanished, the cold crisp air replaced by the salty scent of the sea.

 _'Close your eyes. Feel it.'_

She saw the ocean... And the island. The sky above her. And she felt his presence by her side, invading her senses, pervading her mind, pressing insistantly against the mental walls she had built.

 _'You're so lonely...'_

Her eyes opened calmly, and his smirk vanished as she violently shoved him out of her mind. He lunged forward in retort, his blade only slashing through thin air as she broke free of his hold and swung her blade at his back.

He turned and parried in haste. The strength of her blows unrelenting, she advanced still, forcing him back the way they came. He jumped back just in time to avoid a hit; the blade slashed through his black cloak and scraped the flesh of his thigh, briefly sending him to his knees.

Kylo Ren looked up at her, his hubris shattered for the slightest moment as he struggled to his feet and lashed out at her. She dodged easily and fenced forward, the point of her saber digging sharply into his flesh. Embers sizzling at his shoulder, he backed away from her, his jaw set and eyes burning with anger as she suddenly closed the gap between them, and her blade swept on him. He deflected the strike despite troubled senses, and retaliated with rageful desperation as the squadron of X-wing passing over them in the night sky augured the impending end of their encounter.

Sabers met with a thunderous sound, blades cracked, sending sparks of golden light through the night.

He grabbed her wrist tight, the cold metal of the saber burning like red iron through his leather gloves and she grabbed his, her strong grip pulling his arm away from hers. The gap between them closed until they were tightly entangled, their minds at odds and their bodies dangerously entertwined.

A fleeting moment passed as their eyes met in the bright purple light of their sabers, fighting for dominance over the surrounding darkness. And his lips crashed against hers.

The faint connection he had felt and used against her back in the interrogation chamber opened once more, but just like he had pierced through her defences, he could not keep his guard up towards her. Her memories flooded his mind as his emotions flooded hers.

She felt it all. His pain, the conflict in him.  
 _'I'm torn apart..._ _I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it._ _Will you help me?'_  
She heard her own words echoe through his mind, distorted, cold and distant. _'You're a monster!'_ She felt the burning feeling of rage that they had stirred in him. The rage, the injustice, the sorrow...  
The world around her vanished and for a moment there were no trees, no snow, only the darkness of a starlit sky and the comforting sound of a crackling fire.  
 _'Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that I don't want to do this anymore.'_ , she heard a younger yet terribly familiar voice snap.  
She saw him - dark eyes defiant and chin jutted; younger, incomplete yet his presence overwhelming as an unleashed wave of regret washed over her through his mind – but she seemed to be looking through his eyes when he turned to the bearded man sitting to his right.  
 _'Whether it has or it hasn't is irrelevant. Snoke will try to tempt you to the Dark Side, Ben, and it's most crucial that he succeeds.'_

The crackling of the fire vanished, the warmth replaced by the searing heat of his lightsaber looming ever closer to her as he suddenly broke the kiss and violently shoved her back.

The blades met with a crack of thunder and she lost her footing for the slightest moment, but it was enough for Kylo Ren to take the advantage and take hold of her neck, choking her.

She gasped for air and let go of his wrist; the furious gleam in Ren's eyes turned to shock when her fist collided with his temple, with shattering force.

He stumbbled back, the flare of his lightsaber failing for a fraction of second before it returned to its full fury, casting an eerie red light into his bottomless eyes.

Rey retrieved her stance, the pain in her mind still blazing, but she pushed it aside, far away. Pain is the way to the Dark side, she remembered as a feral grunt filled the air. Thrown to the ground, Ren straightened, repeatingly punching his wounded flank, his face contorted with anger as he charged at her. She deflected the hit and felt the blade collide with flesh as she tore his weapon from his grip and slashed blindly, sending her enemy to the ground.

A deep red slash crossing his long face, the dark knight looked up at her, fury and rage gone from his features, an indecipherable gleam in his eyes.

Rey tensed, a tempting impulse pushing her forward, blade drawn – kill him, a voice in her head said, kill him now! - yet something stronger held her back. Whether it was his eyes roaming dreadfully from the point of her saber to her eyes, the vivid memory of the brooding boy she had caught a glimpse of in their shared vision, or the vainglorious desire to offer him a honourable death - in the fire of battle and not like this, lying bleeding in the snow at her utmost mercy – something kept her arm still. A fleeting look of relief passed on his face as she reassured her grip on her weapon and withdrew.

A deafening sound broke the suspended silence. The earth shattered between them, rocks and ice falling into the boiling pit that cracked the surface of the planet. Rey took a step back, her eyes still fixed on the man on the other side, a rush of fear replacing the thrill of her victory as the tall dark shape of the knight straightened. His breathing ragged, his face barred with her mark, he stared at her across the abyss, his fiery eyes boring into her very soul.

Adrenaline rushing through her veins like a bolt of lightening, Rey turned and ran into the dark, disappearing between the trees as the chasm tearing them apart widened.

 _'Be brave, and don't look back... Don't look back.'_

* * *

 _ **Welcome to the trash compactor! ^^**_

 _ **So, here's the first chapter of my contribution to the reylo frenzy! Rating T for now, might go up if things go as planned in chapter 4 ;)**_

 _ **Hope you'll enjoy this! I'm not very much versed in the extended universe and will mostly keep such references out of my fic, for the EU is no longer canon! So, refrences to past events be only related to the OT, and maybe some of the prequel (but not much) ! Please, review! And no hate for the ship, or I'll smack you with my purple lightsaber! :)**_


	2. Somewhere inbetween

Clinical white lights flashed against the cold metal of the medical unit. The steady dripping of the anaestetic seeping to the ground, where torn scraps of metal were all that remained of the medikit ripped of the surgeon-droid's arm, was the only sound breaking the deathly silence of the shuttle.

His eyes closed, Kylo Ren focussed on the pain, the _blazing_ pain coursing through his veins, his mind gripping tight on the very sensation of the strapples and metalic stitches digging his flank where the bowcaster bolt had torn a large chunk of flesh. He felt the ripples of the Force around him, surging through him, felt the oncoming storm, the tidal wave crashing against the ramparts he built around his mind.

The pain subsided. A shadow briefly obscured his closed-lidded vision and the screeching of metal broke the silence, the droid yet loosing another arm as it came examining the brand on his face. The medic writhed in an immaterial whirl, sparks and electric arks igniting the white lit room until there only was a compacted cluster of scrap iron and wires.

The turbulence somewhat soothed, he rose from the operating table, studying the scar on his flank as he dressed the wound. The missing flesh would regenerate, slowly growing to replace the healing foam injected in his wound to fill the hole in his chest; in two cycles time, not even a scar would be there to remind him of his failure. But the mark on his face... This one was _hers_. He would not have it erased, nor treated.

A revered, anxious silence welcomed him on the main deck. The searing brand on his face twisting his features into something inhuman, he looked down upon his crew, registering the current position of the ship, and their direction.

He needed not question Hux to know where the frigate was heading. The Supreme Leader had summoned him, he sensed it. The time to complete his training had come. He had succeeded in his ultimate trial – though it came along with the very evidence of his utmost failure, of him not being who Snoke had expected, and he would also have to face the consequences.

Death was unlikely. With the girl turned to Skywalker's teaching, Snoke would need him more than ever.

 _'Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he will crush you.'_

He pushed the thought aside, clearing it off his mind before it could conjure the vivid memory of the voice he had felt echo through the Force earlier.

 _'Kill him. Kill him now.'_

The day had not come yet.

"How long until arrival?"

"Estimated distance remaining, fourty parsecs, my lord."

Ren said nothing and turned back towards the doors.

"Ren.", a familiar voice snapped coldly. "Do not think you can bask in the glory of your kill for long. You may have brought Han Solo down", Hux said, carefully studying the knight's reaction, "but the destruction of the Starkiller is of your doing. You _failed_ to stop the rebels from sabotaging our base, and yet again failed to eliminate them when you had them at your mercy. Be sure the Supreme Leader will be informed of your deficiency."

Unmoved by the impending threat, Kylo Ren did not care to address as much as a glance back to the general before he replied.

"Your stormtroopers were disabled by a force of four rebels. Your Tie-Fighters kept in check by a veteran squadron of X-Wings. Your security protocols overriden by one of your own – a grunt, once assigned to sanitation. Let's take that in consideration before we input the failure of this operation to either one of us. Our Supreme Leader will."

Leaving the remains of the military contingent behind, he left the deck in a swirl of black fabric and headed to his private quarters. His mind and body were aching from exhaustion, and he would need his full strength restored if he was to face Snoke.

* * *

"Rey."  
A voice called her in the distance, drowned in the bleeping and rattles of the respirator. The medical bay was white and frozen, the coldness of the air seeping to her very bones and worry exercising an even stronger grip onto her heart as she carefully watched Finn's steady breathing, studying the lights of the monitoring like she could find some way to fix this - to fix him.  
"Rey."  
She turned absentmindedly and rose to her feet to salute the new comer.  
"General Organa."  
"You've been watching him long enough, child. You too need rest."  
"I am fine.", she replied stubbornly.  
It was a lie. She was actually the farther from fine that she had ever been. She had not found sleep since the day they arrived, her dreams and every moments of rest haunted by vivid images of _him_. "Has the map been of any use?", the young woman asked, willing her mind to remain focussed on concrete issues - keep it from wandering off to this firelit conversation, to the vertiginous sensation of falling into oblivion, the pain, the abandonment, the long faded memory of belonging.  
She barely noticed the general was indeed answering until a word broke her train of thoughts.  
"... the Falcon is ready to take off the moment you decide."  
"What?"  
Leia smiled fondly, taking the confusion in her eyes for bafflement.  
"The resistance needs me here. Han...", her voice broke on the name of her late husband. "Luke might not be easy to convince, and I sense you are our best hope to bring him back."  
The words stirred something deep in her.  
 _'The ones you waited on Jaaku. They won't come back. But there is one who still could...'_  
"I understand it is a difficult decision. Take some time to think about it, but remember every moment we lose is precious..."

"Will he train me?" The words had escaped her her before she could stop them. "Will he teach me to control this? To be a Jedi?"

Leia hesitated a moment, studying the girl's almond eyes. She might not have the gift of her brother, but she was Force-sensitive, and she could glimpse at the turmoil boiling into the younger woman's heart as hope, apprehension and something Rey herself could not define raged inside her. The Force was strong in her, even her meager sensibility could detect that. But Luke was no longer the one he used to be – a shadow of his former self since... The betrayal had changed him, maybe more than all of them... Fourteen years of darkness...

"He alone can answer your questions..."

Rey took a moment's appreciation. It was a strange feeling, one she had never experienced. All her life she had been compelled to stay while wishing to leave; today, her duty – maybe even destiny – called her to the stars...

 _'Rey, these are your first steps.'_

She turned her gaze away from the general and towards the unconscious form of her friend, lying on a narrow white bed, his life suspended to machines because she wasn't strong enough to protect him.

In a way, Kylo Ren was right about her. She needed a teacher. One he could never be.

"I will take off in the morning."

* * *

His senses snapped him back to consciousness even before they arrived in sight of the planet. The presence of his master was overwhelming in this system, and even the light of the dwarf star around which the homeworld of the First Order orbitated seemed dulled and dimmed by the Dark side of the Force.

The ship entered the docking and landed with a succession of screeching hisses as gravity took its toll upon the armatures damaged by the blast of the Starkiller. There was a suspended moment of disbelief, followed by a wave of relief as the crew realized how close the ship had been to crumble. How they had made it to hyperspace was a miracle.

Kylo Ren stifled a pained groan as he descended the ramp to the docks. His short respite had not sufficed for him to recover and the sudden shifts of gravity – from the Starkiller, to the ship's artificial one, then to the giant telluric planet they had just set foot on – was doing nothing to help with his wounds. His limbs and entrails felt like they were filled with lead, yet again, physics was probably not the only one to blame.

He felt the presence of Snoke, ever stronger as he advanced through the maze of corridors, out of the military compound and into the vast desolated plains of dark red stone that surrounded the base. A few clicks away, obscuring the blazing horizon as the dwarf pale sun rose, the tall dark shape of their temple - carved into the cold basalt of a long extinct volcano – compelled him onto the scorched desert.

His Master demanded to see call to the darkness was too strong.

He reached the temple an hour later, his body aching from the constant effort against the pull to the ground, but his mind strengthened by the long walk down the pilgrim's way as it embraced the full power of the darkness. He entered the wide hall, paying no attention to the shadows moving behind the gigantic stone pillars of the voices whispering in the dark, and soon reached a vast circular room batched in a white dim light filtered through a circular skylight.

"You have failed me again, Kylo Ren."

The knight fell to his knees in reverence.

"Master. Han Solo is dead, as you requested. I completed my trials."

"Yet you were unable to obey one simple order. _Bring me the scavenger._ "

"The girl is aboard the Millenium Falcon. Off to either the Resistance's main base or Skywalker's location. Give me one more chance to prove myself worthy of your teaching, Master, let me locate the ship, let me get her for you."

A moment of silence passed, only broken by the ruffle of a long dark cloak sweeping on the floor. Daring not to look up, Kylo Ren sensed the tall shape of the Supreme Leader towering over him, gauging him.

"Untrained, yet she defeated you... If she recieves Skywalker's training..."

"Skywalker's trainings are nothing compared to your teachings, Master.", the knight dared interrupt. "The girl can learn the path to the Dark Side, I sense it."

Snoke leaned forward, so that he was eye level with his apprentice. Kylo Ren bowed his head in deference but held his gaze, bracing himself for yet another ungentle mental probing. He felt the pull of the Force, darkness stirring at the corners of his tattered sanity, lies and untruth uncovered, bared to the inquisitorial examination of the Sith Lord.

"You lust for her."

His head shot up to the Supreme Leader, his eyes dark and his jaw set.

 _'Peace is a lie. There is only passion. Through passion I gain strength.'_

Lust and passion were the fundations of the Sith Order. That, he could admit...

"The Force is strong within her. She is a great temptation, and also my greatest trial. If I can pull her to the Darkness, if I can _possess_ her, then..."

"Your own path will be complete.", Snoke finished. An ice cold chuckle filled the air and echoed under the sepulchral vaults of the temple. "Rise, now, Kylo Ren. From now on, your final training begins."

* * *

 _ **Hope you enjoyed this :) Chapter 3 is complete, now, and like MUUUUCH longer than the first 2, so I ight cut it in two parts and post separately. We're finally leaving TFA scenario to enter Episode VIII ;) (well don't expect the story to be actually divided in two full episodes, I will mostly focus on Reylo there and maybe add some resistance vs First Order stuff in between lines,but not enough to make a full length movie script...**_

 _ **On second thoughts...**_

 _ **Anyway, thanks a lot for your reviews and for the massive reading (wait 200 views/day, I really did not expect that!) : more infos on the fic on the dedicated tumblr**_

 ** _reylocallfromthelight . tumblr . com_**

 ** _Please leave me more comments, I love reading about what you liked (or disliked) in the chapter! And, stay tuned! see you in a few days for chapter 3!_**


	3. There's such a distance between us

Meditation had been the skill that came the most naturally to her. Retreating to her mind, to a safe place of light and peace, yet without allowing the journey to dull her awareness was something she had been most familiar with, during her years on Jakku. Conjuring the image of an ocean to extricate herself from reality had made sense back then, but now, with the constant thundering sound of the waves crashing on the cliff and the smell of the salt overwhelming through the wet biting wind, she needed to conjure a much different scenery to allow herself to fall into peace.

She had long fought against the place her mind called her to, refusing to let anything pull her _there_ again; she had struggled to go back to warmth, to the sands of Jakku or the emerald canopy of Takodana, her fight resulting in more unrest, in endless weeks of Master Luke reassuring her, telling her to let go of her fear, or anger, to let her mind proceed before she'd be able to get hold onto the meditation... She had finally surrendered to the vision, and now, it felt natural to retreat to the white and black stretch of this snowy forest... Luke was right in the end. Her mind had processed with the damage, replacing fear and rage with peace and serenity as the image of the Starkiller's surface slowly faded from her memory. She had grown to gain a better control on her vision, letting the Force take her where she needed to be, and meditate on what she saw.

Sat crossed legged on a rock, facing the vertigineous drop to the sea, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander, images and feelings passing through her, the Force flowing freely until she would reach the place she was intended to be.

She saw the snow covered ground, the trail of blood on the white gleaming stretch torn apart by a boiling abyss, she felt the cold as her journey led her to the desolated planes of a rock desert lit by a sun too small for the planet that orbited around, she heard the clash of lightsabers and voices scream in pain as the vision changed again and she advanced still on this familiar path; the scenery changed suddenly, the cold dry air replaced by a pungent wet warmth, she saw the swamps and the gnarltrees growing in the mangrove... It was not the first time her visions showed her this place, but never again had she been allowed to explore this far in this strange world. She traced a path between two ponds of murky water and under the roots of a gigantic tree, vines and thorns making her advance slow and tortuous before she reached a clearing. Warmth was wrested away as a red flare lit the darkness and a familiar blade swept on her.

She fell painfully to the ground, her meditation shattered and a cold sweat breaking her skin and drenching her hair.

Frustrated, she regained her composure and retreated once more into her mind.

For one and a half cycle, her dreams and visions had been free of his intoxicating presence – the only exception being the nightmare that had followed the later refuted rumour of his death in an assault against a First Order base – yet, for a week her every waking moments were haunted by memories and images she knew could not be hers.

There was pain and rage in these visions, but also a deep satisfaction, a sensation of completion. His training was coming to an end, she felt and realised this was the only reason why he had not reappeared on the battlefield after the resistance's victory at the Battle of the Starkiller. Soon, the First Order would unleash him and his knights upon the galaxy, and though the resistance had gained ground and partisans during the Order's forced retreat, Rey doubted luck would remain on their side for long with Ren trained to his full potential – no longer an apprentice but a full grown Sith Lord.

She pushed these worries aside and focussed once more on the light deep within, on the sound of the waves washing against the shore, on the sound of thunder far in the distance as a storm was approaching. This times, the humidity of the air somewhat helped and she found herself once more in the swamp land, her steps hasty and unsure as she fled from a dark shape wreathed in red fiery light. She stumbled and fell back into the clearing, her own lightsaber in hand and jumped to her feet ready to face the threat when a voice broke her train of thoughts, snapping her back to reality.

"This is not how meditation works."

She opened her eyes and realized she was no longer sitting on her rock, but displaying an elaborate fighting stance, her staff in hand, and Luke watching her from a distance. She lowered her weapon and bowed her head curtly.

"The forms help me focus.", she lied half-heartedly.

"This is why you called your staff all the way from up the hill.", he replied with a knowing smirk.

"I've had another nightmare...", she said, noticing all too well her master's frown. "It felt very real... very... sudden."

"I know, I felt your trouble.", the jedi said, closing the gap between them to come and sit on the cliff's ledge with her. "The Force shudders at your contact, Rey. Breath and focus. Find your center."

The young woman nodded and closed her eyes, seeking once again the light.

"Your meditation, where did it bring you this time?"

"A swamp... The whole planet looked like a jungle, and there was this cave... and Kylo Ren." Luke tensed. "I had not felt his presence in a long time. I... I think his training is coming to an end."

The jedi master rose from his seat and let his eyes wander into the distance. "So the time has come."

He wordlessly walked away from the cliff and up the stone path leading to their training ground and habitations. "I shall take the X-wing today. I will be back in the morning. In the mean time, you should meditate on what you've seen. Train on your stance.", he instructed, throwing her his two lightsabers that she caught mid air with a smile. "Your Soresu is still unbalanced. Tonight, you will explore the vision deeper and in the morning we will talk. Do not give in to the fear.", he added as Rey blanched. "These visions are filled with only what you take with you. Nothing can hurt you unless you let it."

The young woman nodded. "May the Force be with you."

* * *

The sky above was dark. The dim light of faint distant stars and a shattered moon penetrated the wide circular room, bathing the immensity of the temple in a cold, lifeless gleam.

Kneeled at the center of the dimly lit hall, Kylo Ren bowed in reverence as his master slowly paced the darkness and studied him, alone bathed in the light.

"Your formation is proceeding well, Kylo Ren.", the Supreme Leader intoned. "But I sense trouble in you... The Force is... disturbed."

"The girl has completed her training with Skywalker.", the knight said calmly. "I sense her strength growing as the days pass. I long for the day I can bring her to you. Make amends for my failures."

"You will.", Snoke muttered grimly. "But patience, my apprentice. In time, she'll seek you out. And when she does, you must bring her before me. Then, your journey will be complete. But your final trial is yet to come."

The dark knight looked up, his unmasked face betraying his eagerness.

Time mattered little on this planet, and he had lost the count of days he had spent here, training, fighting, meditating, seeking guidance in the darkness, basking in the violent feelings that awakened the strength of the Dark Side users. He had felt himself slip deeper into the shadow, quelling the light inside him, he had submitted to the pain and the rage, and the lust for power... Time mattered little... With each passing day, he felt the call to the light fade, his resolve waver as the darkness inside him grew... Time mattered little... The Dark is generous. And patient. And it always wins...

 _'Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'_

Fourteen cycles... No. From the healing of his bowcaster wound and the length of his hair, he could tell he was there for more than just a few months... Sixteen cycles. Sixteen cycles of darkness.

"You will journey to the Outer Rim, to the Sluis Sector. There, you will find the resting place of a powerful Bpfasshi jedi. Even now, nine hundred years after his passing, the Dark Side still seeps through him and corrupts the earth. You shall visit his tomb. And bring back his remains as a token of your comitment to the Order."

"As you wish, master."

* * *

Rey wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand and watched the sun disappear under horizon, a flash of green light igniting the skies before they faded slowly from a darker shade of blue to the deepest black. Her dual weilding forms were still unsteady, she noticed frustrated. The weightless blade, depriving its user from any momentum, was much different from the staff she had relied on for self defense on Jakku; instead of playing with the weight of her weapon to gain strength and speed, she had to control every bit of pressure on the hilt, for the slightest movement, the faintest shift in her stance caused the greatest repercussions on the blade itself.

 _'You must unlearn what you have learned.'_

Closing her eyes to focus on her sensations, on the wet salty wind coming from the sea, on the warmth of the sun quickly fading to a harsh biting chill, she repeated the forms, parrying and fencing, crossing blades and slashing against an immaterial ennemy.

Patience. Calm. Feel the force flow through you, and through all things.

These words still echoed through her mind as if Master Luke was there, whispering them, but the voice of the jedi suddenly became distant as the faceless shape she imagined shifted to something much more real and familiar.

 _'It's just us now.'_

Anger surging through her, she broke the sequence and switched down the saber, the rage in her heart burning painfully as she struggled to regain the control of her emotions. Her whole body was tense, muscles taut as the memory played vividly in her mind.

She saw the white stretch of the snow covered ground, the tall shapes of black scorched trees in the starless night, she heard his ragged rattle, felt his breath on her face, his lips on hers...

"Get. O _ut._ Of my head!"

She shoved him back forcefully, physically staggering from the effort and fell on her back on a dusty stone floor. She straightened, her surroundings bathed in darkness, the only exception being the skylight at the center of the vast room. In the dim light of a broken moon, a somehow familiar shape kneeled before a tall figure. She blinked and the next moment, she stood on a plain of red rocks, scorched by a pale dwarf sun. She walked through doors at a pace that wasn't her own, unwillingly pulled to him as he crossed the vast desertic stretch to a military compound ornamented with the black and red banners of the Order. He stilled as, in the distance appeared the dark shape of an upsilon shuttle, and turned on spot, his tall shape towering on her. From behind his mask, she felt his bottomless eyes bore into hers and his lips curl in a smirk that chilled her to the bone. She was frozen still, helpless, as he outstretched a hand to brush against her skin.

* * *

Kylo Ren smiled and softly crushed the flake of dust he had caught mid air where, a fleeting moment before he had sensed her presence. Thoughtfully smearing the grey powder on his glove fingers, he turned back to his ship and crossed the plain to the docking where the roaring engines of his personnal ship lifted heavy plumes of volcanic dust.

* * *

The girl woke with a start, a chill clinging to her skin and her tunic drenched by dew. The skies above were clear and devoid of stars as the sun lazily rose above the island. Rey straightened, the familiar sound of engines roaring near stirring her of her troubled sleep before she could register the bruise forming on her side where she collapsed from her vision last night.

Racing down the hill and the stone stairs, she soon reached the wide plateau where Luke's X-Wing had landed. The jedi hastily wrapped his thick grey cloak around his shoulders as the chill outside caught him unaware, and searched a moment through the ship's cabin before he pulled out a heavy statchel from behind the pilot's seat.

Rey stopped on the last step and waited. She knew all too well the expression on her Master's face; when he thought himself unwatched, behind the wise jedi appeared the man carrying the weight of souls gone before, of those still to come, of regrets and shattered hopes. The vision only last an instant and when he turned back to her, it was with his usual kind smile, as he threw her a heavy bag that clanked with the sound of many metal scraps. She shot him and interrogative look and he motionned her to follow as he crossed the distance between them and climbed up the stairs to their encampment.

The fire at the center of the the small settlement was dead, and Luke thoughtfully sat on a rock close to the cold hearth, waiting for Rey to join him. She sat crossed legged, the cold ashes between them drawing a vivid image of the surface of the planet she had explored in her vision. She expected him to question her about her meditation, to feel her trouble and investigate it; his clear eyes bore into hers shortly, studying the ripples she caused through the Force, but he said nothing. Instead, he pulled out a small package from under his cloak, and lay it on the cold grey mud. She watched silently as he pulled the leather bound securing and unfolded the white fabric wrap, revealing, concealed and protected into a stasis cube, two dozens crystal shards.

"These gems are force sensitive.", he explained as he turned off the stasis and opened the case to spread the pieces of crystal over the unfolded fabric. "I want you to try and feel the Force flow through them, find resonnance and focus on it when you find it."

The young woman obeyed, shifting from her sitting position to a more formal meditation pose and closed her eyes. She opened her mind to the world around her; she felt the blinding light of her Master before her but brushed past it, focussing her attention to the smallest ripples through the Force, the fish in the water, the water itself as it crashed against the cliffs, the grass as it bend in the wind, the stone and then, in the midst of billions of sparks, a light glowing stronger and fiercer the more she focussed. She saw the stones in her mind more clearly than before, felt the Force shudder at their touch, felt the waves and undulations sending disturbance in her own flow before she found what she was looking for. She hummed unconsciously as her core thrummed in unisson with the sharp edged gem on her right. The cold white glow turned warmer, the shades of octarine she percieved the Force in slowly fading to a fiery citrine light as the crystal sang to her.

She instinctively opened her eyes, only to see the other shards turned a dull white color while the one she had felt her connection to emanated the same ember light she had foreseen.

She looked up to Luke, whose expression was unreadable. He watched the crystals with sadness, yet a light gleaming in his aquamarine eyes as Rey outstretched her hand to tentatively touch the citrine clear gem that had called her.

The crystal was warm against her skin, the glassy surface thrumming softly in unisson with her pulse.

"Kyber crystals.", Luke said, answering her unspoken question. "The heart of a Jedi's lightsaber...", he added with a smile. "These were the last ones, those I could salvage after the destruction of the Temple. This one is yours now. "

The young woman gasped softly, her eyes shifting from her Master's face to the gem before her.

"The only one that answered your call, and changed for you. It has chosen you, and now", he said motionning to the bag of scraps metal beside her, "I will teach you how to build your lightsaber around it."

* * *

 _ **Hope you enjoyed! :) So, there we are, one year and a half after the events of TFA - gosh two years gonna be a loooong wait indeed! - and the connection between them, though dulled by distance, is coming to grow stronger yet.**_

 _ **Hope you will like where this story will lead next :D Chapter 4 is on its way and... well that's about it! Chapter 4 on its way! ^^**_

 _ **Please review and stay tuned! :)**_


	4. They say time's supposed to heal you

The construction of her saber was trickier than she thought at first. She followed Luke's intruction thouroughly but they were mostly evasive, since the building of the saber itself was a trial of the Force. She had to _feel_ where the pieces were meant to go, use the kyber crystal to fuel the energy of the blade, but deflect some of this energy to keep it from overheating. She was versed in mechanics, but this... this made no sense to her at all.

"I can only guide you this far.", Luke told her. "You must let the pieces assemble, the crystal will bend the Force towards a certain direction. Let it. Do not force it."

Rey dropped the wires she was attempting to untangle with a frustrated sigh and cast a dejected look upon the scrap metal scattered before her. From the other side of the camp, Luke briefly broke from his meditation and shot her a confused glance as she emptied the whole of the bag of pieces before her, burnt and torn parts she had so easily discarded coming in addition to this seemingly unsolvable equation. The young woman studied the pieces for a moment, the amber kyber crystal thrumming lightly at the center, and closed her eyes. She felt the ripples form around her, waves crashing against her mental walls, seeping through her, linking her to the gem glowing dim before her. She felt the structure of the rock, sensed how it bended the Force around it, pulling and pushing the wires and pieces around it.

She heard the distant crack of lightsabers, drowned out by thunder as a storm raged inside her.

She faced him, six shadowy figures flanking him as he ignited his lightsaber and - almost casually- strolled towards her. She kept her eyes on him, her grip on her weapon firm and her thumb instinctively finding the switch on the bronze colored hilt. The blade flashed in all its glory, vibrant shades of gold and red sparkling around them when they collided.

A physical sensation, sharp and cold against her skin, tore her from her vision. The pieces of metal were floating around her, some bent and torn from the fluctuation in the Force while others assembled in a semblance of the long bronze hilt she had caught a glimpse of.

She felt a presence in her mind, but ignored it, focussing once more on the pieces before her. The world around her vanished, and only remained the crystal, the wires, the metal and the Force. She felt the ripples grow to waves, crashing against her from the center of the crystal, staggering her back and against the presence behind her. She felt warmth engulfing her as hands landed on hers and helped her control the flow - sustaining it for an instant thus allowing her to reassure her grip - turning the wide open ocean to a wild stream where her light saber turned and twirled and assembled with a click. The presence in her mind let go of her hands, allowing her to receive her weapon. She traced the hilt with a revered awe, her fingers wrapping tightly around it, every bump and hollow of the metal fitting perfectly in her hand as her thumb brushed against the first switch and a long light blade errupted from the saber. She watched the glow fade, from a golden hue to a blinding white gleam where it met the hilt. She felt her heart race as the color pervaded her whole vision, and the hands returned over hers, pressing the second switch on : a second blade errupted, the same citrine shade. A chuckle echoed through the Force, shaking her to the core, as _his_ voice sounded softly to her ear.

 _'Double-blades, then... Most clever.'_

The Force pushed him back against his seat, a cold sweat breaking his skin and the shadow of a smile passing on his lips. At long last, she had constructed her own lightsaber, the golden light bathing their shared vision reminding him of the sun's – a warm light so distant it had almost faded from his memory...

He closed his eyes again, probing the space between them, trying to feel her, but found nothing. She had shut her mind to him, and he dared – or cared – not to push against her remparts for now... The time for their confrontation would come. Already, he could sense her training was benefiting her greatly. Her control over her environment, though far from perfect, was getting firmer and more... balanced, and the forms he had caught glimpses of through their shared visions augured a certain talent for combat. True, her Soresu was still unstable and her Nimaan lacked the calm, relaxed focus it demanded to be truly effective - her nature too turbulent for such a self-restrictive style - but armed with her staff, her Vaapaad form would be devastating.

An alarm rang on the control console, announcing the ship would iminently leave hyper-space. Bracing himself against the sudden deceleration, Ren scanned the system, extending his resonnance through the Force to feel the ripples and currents...

A weight, so heavy it choked the living breath out of him, oppressed his chest. His lungs burned and his heart laboured to pulse the blood to his arteries, the air around him thicker than water.

Struggling to regain his composure, he turned off the alarm and turned the shuttle back to manual control to cautiously round the planet, desperately looking for the reason of this stroke. The auspex scanning the surface of the planet for lifesigns found no trace of any advanced civilization, yet numerous life forms seemed to populate and crawl under the misty atmosphere of this jungle covered hunk of rock. His fist clenching his chest through his heavy black robes, he slowly roused himself from his seat and set the ship in high orbit around the planet. He probed the environment once more, more carefully, the unsteady flow of the Force streaming through him ever so painful. A gasp escaped his lips as recognition suddenly hit him.

Most inhabited planets generated a disturbance through the Force – the sum of all the echoes of lives come to pass and of those still to come – but this world... this forsaken planet was suspended in a mealstrom of conflicted forces – the Dark side and the Light colliding with destructing violence.

 _'Dagobah...'_

He leaned back in the pilots seat, his face drenched of all color and a maniacal grin plastered on his lips. So, this was Snoke's last trials. To send him at the heart of the conflict that still reigned within his own tattered mind. To see him devoted to the Dark, or torn to shreds...

* * *

 _ **Hope you enjoyed this (albeit short) chapter :) Please, feel free to leave a review! and if you don't already, meet me on tumblr ar reylocallfromthelight !**_

 _ **May the trash be with you ^^**_


	5. Well I ain't done much healing

The lightsaber cracked against the chilly drizzle, the twin golden blades bathing her in warmth despite the biting wind. She looked in awe as her vision materialized before her, trembling as if any wrong move or mispressure on the hilt would just scare reality away, and dissolve the weapon into thin air. She switched the blades off and turned to Luke behind her.

The jedi master's face was stern and Rey paled realizing the hands that helped her in the construction from the start weren't his.

"Since when did the visions become so strong?", he asked, taking seat across the fire before her.

"I don't know."

Her eyes set on the still lit saber, considering the weapon for a moment.

"Why would he help me?"

The question broke past her lips before she could stop it.

"Oh, I do not think it's actually him you saw in this vision, Rey...", Luke comfortingly said after a moment of consideration. "More like the part of darkness that resides in all of us; and your spirit is giving it flesh in his shape because he's the only representation you ever had of the Dark Side."

Rey blinked, unconvinced, and glanced down to the weapon in her hands. The blades glowed fiercely, the yellow beams flaring like condensed rays of sunlight. But she could not bask in its warmth, not when the light inside was tainted by the dark.

"Do not lessen your accomplishment. You have built your saber in less time than most jedi need to just conceive it in their mind."

"But..."

 _'What if it's not my accomplishment? What if he did have a hand in the construction? What if the Dark Side guided me? What if...'_

Luke smiled calmly, his composed attitude soothing the raging storm of emotions in her mind.

"Feel the Force. Feel your lightsaber, and tell me. Isn't it yours?"

The young woman rose to her feet, the double-blade still cracking in her hand. She studied the weapon cautiously, watching where the metal bent to allow a grip, and turned one of the beams off, seizing the hilt and swirling the blade in the rain. The rain sizzled as it evaporated on contact with the laser, sending sparks of white blue light in the mist, and Rey smiled, fencing and slashing the blade through the damp biting air in an elegant Vapaad form, switching the second blade on in the middle of her sparring to let a rain of hits fall onto her invisible opponent. Out of breath, but convinced, she turned back to Luke, a radiant smile on her face.

"Rey.", he whispered solemnly, the girl's awed smile fading in the intensity of his voice. "These are your first steps. You still have much to learn from the Force but you're more than capable. There's little more you will learn from me."

She turned down the saber and stared at her master in bewilderment. "Then, I am a Jedi..."

Luke smiled and rose to his feet to cross the distance between them and lay his hands on her shoulders. "Not yet. There's still one trial."

"Ren..."

Luke nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "The bond between you is strong. I once believed it would fade, away from his influence, but, now, more than ever, facing your darkness is the only way you will achieve peace... you shall confront him..."

Rey shook her head. "I am not ready."

"Ready or not, is not up to you to decide.", Luke opposed firmly. "I will contact D'Qar after this storm subsides.", he added, his eyes drifing to the darkening skies on the horizon.

Flashes of lightening ignited the threatening clouds hovering over the sea. In the short time she had spent on the island, Rey had learned to acknowledge the signs. This kind of thunderstorms gained power and strength oversea and could rage for days with devastating force. Rain and wind would unleash upon them in less than an hour. The young woman needed not wait for further instructions to know the task at hand. The storm would soon unleash, forcing them in the ruins of the Temple, a little down the hill; they would not be able to leave the ruins's shelter while it still raged. The essential was already neatly packed there, but whatever they had left behind on the open would be torn to shreds and taken away by the wind.

Turning off her lightsaber and tugging it naturally on her side, Rey rushed to her shelter - Luke doing the same with his - and grabbed her bedroll and the few items she had stored in the round stone dome – her staff, a stone tablet she had retrieved from a collapsed side of the temple, the green jacket Leia had offered her before she left and she still wore at night, as a reminder of everything she was training for.

The sky above them was dark, the sun veiled by thick storm clouds, when they reached the temple. The cold neon light, provided by the tubes powered by the small generator stacked in a corner was soon replaced by the warm glow of embers and flames, a white plume of smoke twirling up to the highest vaults of the temple before it was chased away by the wind.

Rey sat, watching the dance of the flames and the light display on the bronze hilt of her laser-staff.

"You are troubled.", Luke said.

She nodded silently, searching in the light a way to soothe her rising fear. She knew, from the moment she ran, leaving him behind, a shattering world apart, that their confrontation would come.

 _'We're not done yet.'_

She knew the energy that passed between them as they fought, as they stood on the edge of this wretched abyss, as their bodies collided, as his lips crashed on hers and their minds entertwined, she knew the Force would always bring them back together... Already, she could almost feel the strain of her muscles, fighting off an oponent physically stronger than she was, their minds at odds, ramparts of faith raised against each others, walls and barriers she could see cracking...

"Fear not what's to come, Rey. The Force will guide you.", Luke's voice broke through her train of thoughts. "For now, rest. You need it. We will discuss this more after the storm."

She unfolded her bedroll in the alcove she usually occupied and curled on the ground, her her jacket wrapped tightly around her shoulders to keep her from the cold. She felt the unforgiving contact of stone against her back, and suddenly found herself unable to move.

The storm was raging, rain pouring from the skies and drenching her to the bone. Thunder cracked and she turned to face a threatening line of seven cloaked figures. In the midst of them, a familiar silvery mask shot up to look straight to her core. She drew back as he advanced and staggered back, her head colliding hard with the ground.

Pain subsided and the sky above her turned green, filled with a dusty mist of spores and fumes emanating from the surrounding swamps. High gnarltrees obscured the dim light that filtered through the smog, plunging the whole jungle in darkness. A deep swoosh broke the silence and red light drowned her world. She jumped on her feet and ignited her saber. Their blades collided, gold on ruby, casting sparks of fiery light all around.

He fought ruthlessly, casually deflecting each attack with a hand folded against his chest in a perfect Niman style that her Vapaad could hardly counter. She dodged a swing of his blade that swept straight on her left shoulder and aimed hers at his legs; she had to stop him from gaining more ground, keep him at a distance where he could not physically reach her. Her form was swifter, and relied on an agility born from ages of scavenging and lone survival, but whatever leverage her staff offered her, he opposed by the sheer size of him – impossible long arms that allowed him to fence and slash through the sturdiest defenses. She blocked and parried several strikes, unwittingly letting him closer with each attack she deflected, until soon, he had her caught between the clutch of the jungle and his tall unmovable shape. She realized only too late he had pushed her into a trap. He fenced forward, breaking through her guard and violently pushed her back. The Force knocking the air out of her lungs, she staggered and parried in haste as he switched from his balanced Niman to a vicious Ataru form. His saber swept on her and survival kicked in. She raised her staff to catch the blade. Metal and plasma collided briefly. Bronze and plasteel melt with no resistance and the crystal at the core shattered. Her saber torn apart, she looked up to the dead orbits of his mask before the red blade transpierced her.

The scene changed before she could register her own agony. She was back in the jungle. Alone. She shivered, from the sudden lack of the blades radiating heat, then realised how bitting and damp the air was, There was something cold and pungeant... a stench unlike anything she had selt before emanating from the dark cave carved in the cliff... Death.

She felt the Force shudder as she advanced towards the disturbance, stirring in her a darkness she was long fighting to free herself of, pervading her mind and numbing her senses.

Fear.

Anger.

Suffering.

Detaching itself from the darkness, a huddled form on the ground caught her eye.

Drapped in a black cloak, his breathing whizzing, Kylo Ren struggled to straighten, his lightsaber ignited in his hand flashing and pulsing from an instable excess of energy, casting his surroundings in vibrant shades of gold and red. His hands shaking, he struggled against a force greater than gravity pulling him to the ground and reached for the sides of his mask. The mechanism hissed and the breathing apparatus opened, allowing him to take in a deep, hissing breath. His face contorted with pain, he rolled to his side and curled and writhed in agony. A gasp escaped his lips and turned to a pained groan his eyes met hers.

 _'Rey...'_

She woke with a start, her breath stuck in her throat, silent tears drenching her cheeks. She coughed against the still vivid pain, her voice cracked as the words broke past her lips. "Ben... Dagobah System..."

* * *

 _ **Visions, visions; soon the confrontation will come, but what will be the outcome? :)**_


End file.
